Slicing machine



W. J. CAMPBELL SLICING MACHINE May 21, 1935.

Filed Jan. 15, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 #07716 gas W. J. CAMPBELL SLICING MACHINE May 21, 1935.

Filed Jan. 15, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W jnvefiaf 7 Z/ZZZZMJQ JW/ M ALI? May 21, 1935. w. J. CAMPBELL SLIGING MACHINE Filed Jan. 15, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 more 6.

Patented May 21, 1935 F NI D T TE Application a tsy 15, 1934, Serial No. 706,717

14 Claims.

. invention relates to improvementin slicing machines and has forone purpose the provision of meansfor protecting or guarding the cutting edge of the knife when the device is not in use. Another purpose is the provision ,of means for permitting thelgauge plate to be moved into complete guarding position. Anotherobject is the provision of means for moving the carriage which supports the work, in order toperrnit the gauge plate toreach a fully adequate knife edge guarding position. Other objects will appear from time to time in the course ofthe specification and claims. 7

I illustrate my invention more or lessdiagrammatically. in the accompanying drawings, where- .m, Figure 1 is a side elevation with parts broken away; 1 a

Figure 2 is .a plan view withuparts broken away; f r 7 Figure 3 is an end view with partsbroken away; 4 H

Figure 4 is a partial plan View similar to Figure 2 with the parts in different position;

Figure 5 is a plan viewi'oi a variantj forzn of invention; I

Figure 6 is a partial end view of the structure shownin Figurefigand Figure (7 is a section on the line ',l.--.l .of

, Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring first to Figures 1* to 4, A, indicates suitable base upon which ismounted a motor A which, through its motor shaft A pulley .A an d'belt A -Qdrive's'almiieB. i I

The knife .3 ismounted on any su'itabl knife shaft 13 which carries, a pulley B about which passes the belt A B indicates any suitable bearing sleeve for the shaftB f The forward face of the knife is covered, f or example, by the guard plate B the details of which do not form a part of the present invention. p

-C a slicereceiving member to the rear of the cuttingiplane. The gauge of the slices delivered thereto is controlled by the gauge plate C which is supported, .for example; upon the guiding members'C? C which are herein shown as pins slidably penetrating correspondingsleeves C C in the base.

In order to move the. gauge plate toward and away from the cutting planeI provide a manual control lever D which is pivoted as at D and is provided with fan ofiset portion D connected by the guide pin 0 It wi be understood that in response to movement of the lever D ahout th'e center D the guide pin 0 is given axial movement and moves the gauge plate .to any desired adjustment. l l

EE? indicate tracks mounted at their ends on cross members E which cross members are slidable on transverse tracks E the ends of which are secured in supports E .upwardlyjextending from any suitable plate E5, the plates E? being secured to the base A as by the screws E theheads of which areenclosed within the base. E is a transverse member connecting the portions E whereby the tracks EE may be moved as a unit along the transverse tracksE In order to impart transverse movement to the tracks EE ,I provide anactuating connection or rod G which is secured asat G to the lower side of the member E'Q-ior example to the downward extension G It may pass through a guiding bearing G in the base-.A and is provided with a terminal portion having space rollers G G "which engagethe'opposite sides of a cam loop 6: which is secured to or forms part of' the lever D. It will be understood from comparing the position of the parts as shown in Figures 2 and 4, that movement of the lever D controls both the position of the gauge plate G and of the tracks EE It, thereifore, controls the-position of the carriage H which is shown as slida-ble upon thetracks EE and as, provided with the wonsupporting member Hi, the iorward edge of which H normally approaches closely to the-cutting plane in the position in which .it is shown in Figure 4. In Figure 4, the lever D is'shown in the position in which the gauge plate is most remote from the cutting plane. Asthe lever D is given a clockwise movement,

referring to. the position of the parts in which they areshown in Figure 4, the guide C and thus the gauge plate C are moved toward the cutting plane. The cam loop G is soformed that during the normal adjusting excursion of the lever D, no axial movement is imparted to the member-G.

However, there isanactual cam portion G to the parts are shown in Figure .2, :further clockwise movement of the lever D, not merely advances the gauge plate C knit-e masking position, but also gives an axialmovementto the pin-G which causes from {the cutting plane. This permits-the gauge ithe'entir e track strnctune, including the tracks EE! and the. carriage; H to move slightly away toward the cutting plane.

thus insuring safety from accidental cutting when the device is in neutral position. On the other hand, when the operator wishes to employ the slicing machine, a counter-clockwise movement of the lever D initially withdraws the gauge plate from its masking alignment and at the same time moves the forward edge H of the carriage almost to the cutting plane. One important advantage of having the edge of the carriage ,so close to the cutting plane is that the work to be sliced is fully supported. In practise this prevents a warping or drawing down of the work by leaving the forward edge unsupported by the carriage H or its work supporting member H Where meat, for example fat meat like ham or bacon, is left unsupported it drags across both the gauge plate and the knife and this causes larding or. the frictional disposition of grease upon the gauge plate and knife. The friction between the knife and the work is increasedwhich increases the heat caused by friction and this very "much increases the tendency to deposit lardj or grease. Also, the unsupported edge of the work tends'to feather or draw out giving the slices 2. ragged edge. These disadvantages are largely obviated by having the forward edge H of the carriage closely adjacent the cutting plane. ,This would prevent a complete masking of the cutting edge by the gauge plate were a rearwardmovement of the carriage or of its supports not permitted.

As a variant solution of the same problem, I

. illustrate in Figures Etc '7 a structure in which the tracks JJ are mounted at one end upon a transverse supportJ which ispivoted as at J to the base A. At the opposite end they are secured to'a transverse member J which is slidably mounted upon a trackorpin J which, in turn, is mounted at each end upon a support J 6 J these supports being joined at their bottom as at J and secured to the base A as by the screws J The spring J normally urges the member J along the track J toward the cutting'plane. Its movement toward thecutting plane may be adjustably controlled or limited as by the adjust.- ment screw J theend of which engages the limiting abutment J In this form of the device there need be no directconnecti'on between the lever D and the track structure. I simply provide a thrusting abutment in the formof 3 the screw K opposed to an abutmentK on the gauge plate structure herein indicated asincluding the support K The screw K'may be adjustable as 'in the ear K which depends from the member J It will be understood that the spring J normally thrusts the member J asfar as it will go The parts are so adjusted that the edge H of the carriage or work support is normally closelyadjacent the cutting plane. When the gauge plate "C is moved into For example, whereas in Figures 5 and 6 I have shown the track structure as pivoted at one end,

it will be understood that in some circumstances both ends might be guided on tracks such as J It' will also be-understood that whereas I have shown in Figure 2 and following a positive means for imparting lateral movement to the tracks EE and the carriage H, I might dispense with the positive connection G and substitute springs such as are shown at J in Figures 5 and 6. The main object is to obtain a close approach of the forward edge of the carriage to the cutting plane while permitting a recession of the carriage from the cutting plane when the gauge plate is serving a guarding instead of a gauging function. I, therefore, wish my description and drawings to be taken as in a broad sense illustrative and diagrammatic rather than as limiting me to my specific showing.

7 It will be understood that where in the claims I specify that the carriage is movable in response to movement of the gauge plate I wish this term to be interpreted broadly enough to cover the movement of the carriage in response to movement of the gauge plate support or to movement in unison with the gauge plate, where some common connection is employed for imparting unitary movement to gauge plate and carriage. Examples of such means for impacting unitary movement are, of course, present in all forms of the invention herein shown and the gauge plate itself is not indicated as contacting the carriage. In one of the forms shown the gauge plate support thrusts against the support for the carriage guides, as shown in Figure 6. In another, as shown for example in Figures 2 and 4, a camming connection is employed between the carriage supporting guides and the manual lever for actuating the gauge plate.

I claim:

1. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage and guiding means for guiding said carriage across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for varying the distance between the carriage and. the cutting said carriage away from the cutting plane of the knife in response to movement of the gauge plate.

3. In a, slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage and guiding means for guiding said carriage across the face of the gauge plate and. past the cutting edge of the knife, and means, re-

sponsive to changes in position of the gauge plate, for varying the distance between the carriage and the cutting plane of the knife when the gauge plate crosses the cutting plane.

4, In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage, and. a guiding track for guidingit across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means responsive to changes in position of the gauge plate, for bodily moving said carriage and track toward and away from the cutting plane, in unison with movement of the gauge plate when the gauge plate reaches a predetermined position adjacent the cutting plane.

5. In a slicing machine, a base,a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage, and

a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodily moving said carriage and track toward and away from the cutting plane, including a connection between said track and the gauge plate actuating means.

6. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage, and a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodilymoving said carriage and track toward and away from the cutting plane, including a cam connection between said track and the gauge plate actuating means.

7. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage, and a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past'the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodily moving said carriage and track toward and away from the cutting plane, the track being pivoted to the base at one end, the opposite end being movable toward and away from the cutting plane, and yielding means effective normally to urge said free end toward the cutting plane. I

8. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate and means for actuating it, a carriage, and a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodily moving said carriage and track toward and away from the cutting plane, the tracklbeing pivoted to the base at one end, the opposite end being movable toward and away from the cutting plane, and yielding means effective normally to urge said free end toward the cutting plane, and adjustable means for limiting its closest approachthereto.

, 9. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mount-, ed on the base and means for actuating it, a

gauge plate and an actuating lever therefor piv otably mounted upon the base, and an actuating connection between said lever and the gauge plate, a carriage and a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodily moving said carriage toward and away from the cutting plane, including a connection between and away from the cutting plane, including a connection between said track and said gauge plate actuating lever.

11. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mountconnection between said lever and the gauge plate, a carriage and a guiding track for guiding it across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, and means for bodily moving said carriage and a track toward and away from the cutting plane, including a connection between said track and said gauge plate actuating lever, and transverse guiding means for guiding said track toward and away from the cutting plane.

, 12. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate, said gauge plate being generally parallel with the cutting plane defined by the edge of the knife, and normally positioned at one side thereof, means for moving the gauge plate through a predetermined range of position, into and out of the cutting plane, a carriage and means for guiding the carriage across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, the carriage being positioned on the side of the cutting plane opposite to the gauge plate and being provided with an edge terminating closely adjacent the cutting plane, and means responsive to the movement of the gauge plate, for moving the carriage away from the cutting plane when the gauge plate is moved into the cutting plane.

f 13. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate mounted on the base and means for actuating it, a carriage and guiding means for guiding said carriage across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, means in connection with the carriage and guiding means adapted to permit the movement of the carriage toward and away from the cutting plane, and means for moving the carriage away from the cutting plane, and in unison with the movement of the gauge plate, when the gauge plate reaches to within a predetermined distance of the cutting plane, including, a connection between the gauge plate actuating means and the carriage.

14. In a slicing machine, a base, a knife mounted onthe base and means for actuating it, a gauge plate mounted on the base, a carriage and means for guiding said carriage across the face of the gauge plate and past the cutting edge of the knife, means in connection with the carriage and guiding means, adapted to permit the movement of the carriage toward and away from the cutting plane, and unitary means effective normally to control theposition of the gauge plate,

and effective, when the gauge plate reaches to within a predetermined distance of the cutting in unison in the same direction.

WILLIAM J. CAMPBELL. 

